b + b + e = 3

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washington dc, day five

another semi low-key day for brandon and i (we really pushed ourselves those first few days). we first headed to the national archives bright and early–there’s always a line, so we tried (and succeeded!) to beat the crowds. we barely had to wait to see all the important documents for our nation (the declaration of independence, constitution, and bill of rights). we also saw a few other documents and things along the way, and learned more about some historic events…

i didn’t expect the constitution to be so very…faded. you can barely make out anything, even john hancock’s signature. what i want to know, is how come the declaration and bill of rights, written around the same time roughly, are in so much better shape? and why is the magna carta totally legible? obviously i can’t read it due to a language barrier, but i mean, that was written in 1215 and the ink is still really dark.

so after the national archives, we met up with one of my middle school friends–by total coincidence she was in dc visiting a cousin. we grabbed some potbelly sandwiches and headed to the sculpture garden (yes, again! we were close by) to eat.

these pictures were taken about 1.5 hours before brandon and i got drenched in a downpour, but more about that later.

so post-delicious sandwiches, brandon and i dropped elizabeth off at the metro and then wandered over to the old post office building. the building was totally empty, and we got to go up in the tower to get a beautiful view of the city. we also got to see marine one land at the white house, which was pretty cool.

the weird effect on the photo is due to taking pictures through the safety/security wires seen here:

after the post office museum, we got caught in a big downpour and got SOAKED. we pulled into the portrait gallery to see the atrium skylight thing by norman foster, as well as dry off–as in, i stood under the hand dryer to help dry out my clothes.

it was definitely worth the rainy trek. we saw some cool old portraits, some amazing photographs, and then settled down in the courtyard for some snacks and sketching.